Waiting for secondary school appeal dates and advice on what to expect

[Mayjane5]

we have put in two school appeals and now just waiting for the appeal date! Who else is waiting? Is the not knowing that’s the hardest. Anyone who has gone through the appeal any advice for what to expect on the day?

Thank you so much, very helpful insight 🙏🏼

I'm also preparing an appeal, this is great advice thank you.

Question on year 7 classes sitting beneath 30 - are you referring to current year 7 here (already at the school), or the new prospective year 7 from September 26 onwards?

The school we are appealing for has spaces in all current year 7-10 classes but (we assume) has full classes for the incoming year 7 - we missed out hence the appeal.

Our appeal dates are not until June so a long wait 😔

Hi anyone else had their appeal dates?

We had our appeal this week. Stage 1 was fine - we chose not to ask questions in the group setting as we are appealing on SEN grounds and felt that whatever we asked would be too specific to our child.
Stage 2 was brutal. The panel were lovely but the representative from the school was absolutely determined not to admit anyone extra and just kept repeating the same paragraph of their case.
We find out on Friday if we are successful but they have never let anyone in on appeal so who knows?

@st thanks for your reply, I feel ok now about presenting our case, also on sen need, I suppose it comes down to the day and the panel. I know the school I am appealing have accepted appeals in the past few years. Good luck with yours

I know the school I am appealing have accepted appeals in the past few years.

The independent appeal panel decides whether an appeal should be upheld or not. If an appeal is upheld, the school has to accept that decision and the child must be admitted. No-one from the school itself has any say in the decision-making process.

for those who have had appeals does the panel receive information in the appeal pack about the child’s attendance/attainments etc?

I'm a panel member, maybe other areas operate differently, but the only time I've seen that sort of thing is from the parents.
If you decide to do that, please keep it brief and relevant. E.g. if you're appealing for a school because it has a good music department, then include your child's music certificates.
Letters of support from current school are very much frowned upon.

For normal admission round appeals, this information would only be in the pack if the parent has decided to submit it (attendance not relevant at all, end of year assessments / SATs predictions only relevant for grammar school non-qualification appeals, so for your normal secondary school appeal you are just wasting the time of the independent appeal panel members, who are obliged to read everything presented to them, relevant or not). (Cross-posted with @Raera here).

Which reminds me, please don't include info like, Mrs Bloggs, my DC's piano teacher / football coach / social worker, will be happy to answer any questions - here are her contact details; that's not within the panel's remit. If a statement from Mrs Bloggs is crucial to the case, then it should be submitted as a supporting document by the deadline given by the Clerk.

@Raera thank you I had read some posts saying they headteachers had already decided to accept them ( whether true or not? ) so wondered what info they were given. I’ve a letter from the school but it’s from the SENCo department so would that be ok? @MarchingFrogs thank you for swift response that’s understood I’ll not worry about this then thank you

I don't understand what you mean by
I had read some posts saying they headteachers had already decided to accept them

hi @Raera from previous posts I’ve found on here and other forums some have mentioned the school had already decided to accept them so wondered if they had addiontional info about the child or it was just on the appeal that had been sent in. I’m just trying to be as prepared as possible

A school cannot accept pupils above their AAN. If you have heard that it's most likely to be untrue.
Extra pupils can only be accepted after consultation with the LA to increase their AAN. This sometimes happens as a temporary measure in a high birth (bulge) year.
I can often recognise body language from a school representative at an appeal that they would like to accept a child (I saw that only today!)
They can't. I once had a headteacher at an appeal, say something along the lines of, OK we will take them.

The appeal continued and the panel made the decision.

Spaces may have become available and offers made from the waiting list, with some of those offered having lodged an appeal, but in that case, their appeal hearing won't go ahead (although it does occasionally happen that the school only knows that places can be offered from the waiting list to appellants during the 'live' appeal session). Or, there will have been a late decision to offer extra places, in which case, those offered will be the top 'x' from the waiting list- which again, may include some who have lodged appeals.

The school absolutely cannot 'decide to accept' pupils in advance of their appeal hearings, just on the basis of the parents having appealed.

Same hymn sheet @MarchingFrogs !

Thanks both, I’m thinking about it it could have been grammer schools that were mentioned. I understand the pan and process I’ve gone through the appeals code, it’s just such a long wait until my appeal date every new thing I come across puts doubt it my mind. I’m happy I think with my appeal and evidence

Good luck!

Thank you 🙏

@MarchingFrogs and @Raera sorry another question I just thought of, if we have mentioned travel as one point do we need to evidence the journey and distance or will they take our word? I can back it up but not sure if I need too?

If it's an LA appeal, they provide maps and journey times for us, but the church schools don't, other areas may differ
Adding a google maps screenshot does no harm if it's important to your case. Make sure you alter the time so it reflects the school journey. However, as mentioned above, please don't overload the poor panel with too much stuff to read through.

Thanks understood, I’ve quoted in my appeal the journey in miles and time it will take, I thought I would take the Google maps to the appeal on the day if they ask further into that, as like you say don’t want to send too much, I wasn’t sure how in-depth the panel would check each case beforehand but makes sense they would be given the info from the LA. Thank you for your advice

Anything you take on the day can and most likely will be disallowed by the panel
Everything should be in advance

@Raera thanks I’ve asked the appeals team if they will include a map and distance to the panel or if I need to provide. I just didn’t want to overload with info but obviously want to back up case thanks again

So we had our first appeal this week, panel were friendly and asked a couple of questions. Found out today that we had won !! Totally shocked as I know chances are slim. First choice won so don’t have to go through with the second appeal, so relieved one ecstatic child. Thank you to all posters here who have helped me with tips and suggestions